Flower bar dance is a wealth, there is no place in the country, our old town is unique!
My name is Cui Zhenjiang and I am 65 years old. In 2007, he became the fifth-generation inheritor of the provincial intangible cultural heritage flower bar dance. Over the years, in addition to farming, the main energy has been spent on passing on skills. In his free time, he also does odd jobs in the surrounding factories, and his income is not high, but he has a comfortable life.
"The footsteps are heavy, the knees are slightly bent, the small flick away, the big flick turns, the whole body trembles when riding a horse and squatting"
When I was 20 years old, I worked as a militia and a guard in the production team for 4 years. At that time, the flower bar dance was very popular, and almost all the young people in the village could dance it. During the New Year's holidays, many places in Hebei invite us to perform. In some places, I went out before it was dark, and it was already midnight when I got home. Halfway through, many people set off firecrackers to intercept and wanted to watch the performance, and everyone jumped for joy again.
Before I knew it, I was fascinated too. When others dance, they follow behind to learn and ask if they don't understand. When there was no one to work with, I figured it out by myself, resting one end of the homemade pole on the windowsill and carrying the other end to practice.
It didn't take much effort, and it was very easy to use it quickly. The flower bar dance cannot be supported by the hands, only the head, shoulders, and back, and the movements are changed by trembling. The main skills include top bar, shoulder turn, shoulder change, back turn, back trembling, squatting, digging step, light step, etc. Dance the flower bar dance, keep in mind one sentence: "The footsteps are heavy, the knees are slightly bent, the small flick away, the big flick turn, the whole body trembles when riding a horse and squatting".
In 1992, we were invited to participate in the Shenyang International Folk Dance Festival in China, and I was honored to join the performance. The performance venue is located in the Shenyang Palace Museum, with hundreds of Chinese and foreign performance teams, and the scene is spectacular and eye-opening.
On the day of the performance, the whistle of the leading dancer sounded, the gongs and drums were noisy, and the team was lined up into formations such as "two dragons spitting whiskers", "turning crosses", "pairing bars" and "stringing flowers", and then transformed into tooth-shaped, snake-shaped, trapezoidal, and straight queues, and there were as many as 72 drum beats. The flower bar rotates and trembles at will on our heads, shoulders and backs, like a dragon out of the water and flowers flying in the waves. In 4 days, 8 performances were performed in a row, and the venue was full.
When I returned to Wucheng, I quickly became the lead dancer because of my outstanding performance. During this period, he led the team to participate in countless performances.
In April 2019, the performance of the Weifang Kite Festival made me unforgettable. There is no fixed venue, but performances along the street, walking and jumping all the way, and it has lasted for 5 kilometers. The weight of the flower bar is not light, and everyone's physical fitness has reached the limit, but fortunately, the audience along the street cheered enthusiastically, and we did not lose our energy all the way.
Singing and laughing, twisting and dancing, decades of smoke came over.
In the old town of Sanyi Village, almost all men, women and children can dance the flower pole dance
In 1992, Wucheng Huagang Dance was included in the book "Integration of Chinese Ethnic and Folk Dances" and became a key research project of national art disciplines. In 2007, the dance was included in the list of provincial intangible cultural heritage, and I became the inheritor. In 2013, Wucheng County was rated as the hometown of folk culture and art in Shandong Province - the hometown of Huagang Dance.
Over the years, the fame of the flower bar dance has grown, and the protection has become stronger and stronger, but the members are still those old guys, generally in their fifties and sixties, and young people need to join in.
Inheritance should start from the doll. With the strong support of the town cultural station and the village committee, since 2019, the "intangible cultural heritage into the campus" activity has been carried out vigorously. I reduced the length from 5 meters to 3 meters and the weight from 45 kilograms to 10 kilograms, making them suitable for children to carry the "miniature" poles, so that intangible cultural heritage could enter the Nantun Primary School in the village.
Initially, there was one class per week, and students in grades 3 to 5 volunteered to participate. Starting from the pace of teaching, and then to the kung fu of the bar, the clever child can learn it in more than a month. One batch a year, I have taught 5 batches. They also regularly participate in performances and have won awards. Since the beginning of this semester, one more class has been added each week, and more than 30 children have signed up. Looking at the curious and joyful eyes of the children, I firmly believe that the flower bar dance will be passed down from generation to generation.
In rural areas today, most young and middle-aged people go out to work, and there are many left-behind women. I pondered the formation of a "Sanyi Village Women's Flower Bar Team". I have observed that many women like to dance in the small square of the village council. The lead dancer is in his 40s, can speak well, and dance well. I told her what I thought, and she said yes. She called on the women members of the square dance team to dance square dance in 135 and learn to dance in 246.
Correspondingly, the span has been improved, with the same length and a weight reduction of 30 kg. Women are physically agile and can master the essentials of technology in a short period of time. If there will be a performance in the future, the women's synchronized bar team will also be able to make a wonderful appearance.
Nowadays, in Sanyi Village, almost all men, women and children can dance the flower bar dance.
The cabbage flowers are blooming, yellow and gorgeous, how beautiful
No matter how lively the flower bar dance is, there are times when there are days, and the days have to be steady.
After dancing the pole dance, I gave up working outside the home because I needed to practice and organize activities frequently. When the farm is not working, he does odd jobs around the village.
There is a small carpet factory in the village, and more than 10 years ago, I went to help build the factory. After finishing the work every day, pick up the surrounding area and walk again. The boss saw that I was diligent, so he hired me to work in the factory, responsible for picking, weighing, and shipping. I have a strong memory, I remember the road I have walked clearly, and I can recognize people I have seen at a glance, and my boss said that I am a "living map", and I will take me wherever I go to deliver goods. Two years ago, business in the factory was sluggish, and I took the initiative to resign.
The year before last, I was selected for the public welfare post in the village, fire prevention, flood control, and publicity...... Everything rushes ahead. If people believe in me, I have to do things well. Before the heating season last year, I and the grid staff in the village went from house to house to check for potential safety hazards, and visited more than 700 households in two days...... There's a lot more to be done.
I also have a specialty – cooking. I liked it when I was young, and I learned it without a teacher. As long as I'm at home, I take care of all the cooking. In the past, when the village held a flowing water banquet, the owner would invite me to be the chef. In order to buy food and drinks, I often racked my brains and was not home for several days. Now, the village has set up a "Warm Heart Canteen", and a cook is needed to cook lunch for the elderly in the village. The village committee was the first to think of me, and I gladly accepted.
When there is sunshine in the heart, life is warm. For example, although I am not paid, as long as the villagers call me, I will be happy to go.
Of course, all this is thanks to the fact that I have a virtuous helper, my wife is very understanding of me, and her temperament is easy-going, no matter what I do, she will not hinder me. In her spare time, she picks up odd jobs such as embroidery at home, which not only passes the time, but also subsidizes the family. The children are all working, and they are quite filial.
I like to grow flowers, and I planted them on the windowsill. The cabbage can be cut and watered to live, it has just bloomed, the petals are not big, yellow and gorgeous, how beautiful.
Produced by Texas Daily New Media
记者 | 芦瑞瑞 王志冕 编辑 | 芦瑞瑞
审核 | 冯光华 终审 | 尹滨